BYU Theatre's 2014-15 season filled with favorites and premieres

'The Count of Monte Cristo,' 'Our Town,' 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' on schedule

In celebration of the 50th anniversary theatre season in the Franklin S. Harris Fine Arts Center, the Brigham Young University Department of Theatre and Media Arts presents a variety of drama, comedy and musical theatre favorites and premieres.

Highlights include the U.S. premiere of Frank Wildhorn’s musical The Count of Monte Cristo; a world-premiere stage adaptation of Shannon Hale’s young adult novel Princess Academy; and William Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, adapted for young audiences and performed with marionettes.

Season tickets for BYU Theatre will go on sale May 28, at arts.byu.edu. Tickets to individual performances go on sale four weeks before to the start of each production.

2014-2015 Theatre and Media Arts Performance Schedule

THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES: BYU Young Company
THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE
A participatory play adapted by Larry and Vivian Snipes
Based on a story collected by the Brothers Grimm
Directed by Néstor Bravo Goldsmith

This tale of a fisherman, an enchanted fish, and three magic wishes taps into the imagination through clever storytelling and audience participation.

Nelke Theatre
Sept. 26, Oct. 1–3, 8–10, 7 p.m.
Saturday matinees Sept. 27, Oct. 11, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Children’s school matinee, Thurs., Oct. 9, 10 a.m.
ASL interpreted performance Thurs., Oct. 2

COMEDY
SEE HOW THEY RUN
By Philip King
Directed by Barta Lee Heiner

Mayhem ensues in this hysterical farce involving mistaken identity, slamming doors and a cast of mismatched personalities at a vicarage in 1940s England.

Margetts Theatre
Nov. 7–8, 12–15, 18–22, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday matinee Nov. 8, 15, 2 p.m.
ASL interpreted performance Thurs., Nov. 13

DRAMA
OUR TOWN
By Thornton Wilder
Directed by Stephanie Breinholt

Hailed as “the greatest American play ever written,” this 1938 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama follows the residents of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, and observes the transient nature of life.

Pardoe Theatre
Nov. 21–22, Dec. 2–6, 9–11, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday matinees Nov. 22, Dec. 6, 2 p.m.
ASL interpreted performance Thurs., Dec. 4

MUSICAL
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO: A New Musical
Music by Frank Wildhorn
Book and lyrics by Jack Murphy
Directed by Tim Threlfall
Musical direction by Gayle Lockwood
Choreography by Nathan Balser
Creative producer: Jeffrey Martin

From the Tony Award–nominated composer of The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War and Jekyll & Hyde, comes the U.S. premiere of this epic musical based on Alexander Dumas’s classic story of revenge, romance and love’s redemptive power.

de Jong Concert Hall
Jan. 22, 7:30 p.m. (preview performance)
Jan. 23–24, 27–31, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday matinees Jan. 24, 31, 2 p.m.
ASL interpreted performance Thurs., Jan. 29

THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES: BYU Young Company
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
By William Shakespeare
Adapted and directed by Nat Reed

The Bard’s popular comedy about the struggles of love comes to life at the hands—or, rather, the strings—of a troupe of handmade marionettes.

Nelke Theatre
Feb. 4–6, 11–13, 7 p.m.
Saturday matinees Feb. 7, 14, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Children’s school matinee Thurs., Feb. 12, 10 a.m.
ASL interpreted performance Thurs., Feb. 5

NEW WORK
MICROBURST THEATRE FESTIVAL
A series of short plays written by BYU students
Directed by George D. Nelson

Winner of three national awards at the 2014 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, this jubilee of new plays by aspiring playwrights returns for another round to explore love, loss, and life.

Margetts Theatre
March 5–7, 11–14, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday matinees March 7, 14, 2 p.m.
ASL interpreted performance Thurs., Mar. 12

CLASSIC
THE WINTER’S TALE
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Lindsay Livingston

Myth and misunderstanding intersect as a cast of colorful and passionate characters struggle to obtain their happy ending in this tragicomedy. One of Shakespeare’s last plays.

Pardoe Theatre
March 20–21, 24–27, 31, April 1–3, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday matinees March 21, 28, 2 p.m.
ASL interpreted performance Thurs., March 26

FOR FAMILIES
PRINCESS ACADEMY
Based on the book by Shannon Hale
Adapted for stage by Lisa Hall Hagen
Directed by Megan Sanborn Jones

Taken from her home to attend royal finishing school, Miri faces a harsh schoolmistress, fierce storms, and bandits. She soon discovers the power of friendship and a loving heart. This world premiere production is adapted from the story of The New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale.